Five Years Gone
by Cat 2
Summary: Captain Scarlet wakes up in sickbay 5 years after the events of “Dominion", Is it real, a Mysteron trick, or something else? New Captain Scarlet. I own nothing, except for Lieutenant Almond, and any one who wants to can borrow her.
1. Chapter 1 Sickbay

Sickbay

The first thing he was aware of was an unnatural beeping. Slowly he opened his eyes.

The bright light almost made him close them again, but he forced them to remain open. Two flesh coloured blurs hovered above him.

He blinked, and the blurs sharpen to reveal two people.

One was the blonde haired, blue eyed Captain Blue. The other was an Asian woman who he didn't recognise.

Blue's face was visible relieved.

"He's coming out of it."

"I'll get Marigold." The woman's face swam out of view. He blinked again, and the room slid into focus. He was lying on a bed in Skybase medical centre, the silver ceiling reflecting the lights. The beeping was from the monitors that sat in solitary splendour. He began to try and sit up, but Blue's hand was across his chest.

"Hey. Hey." He said the tension in his voice evident. "Just lie still O.K? You gave us quite scare."

The whoosh sound announced the opening of the doors, as a vaguely familiar face swept in. Dr Marigold was Dr Gold's second in command, in charge of the treatment of minor aliments that inevitable affected an organisation as large as Spectrum. He had a vague memory that she had some speciality in the psychological effects of disease and injuries.

"Hey doc." He said, his voice sounding almost completely normal. To his surprise her smile broadened.

"Excellent. Mouth motor controls normal."  
"Was there ever any doubt?" the Asian woman asked, as Captain Blue got to his feet. Dr Marigold shook her head, keeping her attention on her patient.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Confused." He admitted. He had no idea how he'd got here, and when he tried to think about what had happened, it made his head hurt.

"Any pain?" Marigold asked, her hawk like eyes never leaving him.

"Headache." He admitted.

She smiled softly.

"That's not surprising. Now" she continued, sinking down on to the bed. "Can you tell me who you are?"  
"Captain Scarlet. Paul Metcalfe."  
Dr Marigold nodded.

"Can you tell me where we are?"  
"Skybase Medical centre." He took a look around and made a guess. "Bay 2."  
"Good. Can you tell who he is?" she pointed at Captain Blue.

"Captain Blue, Adam Svenson. Look what's going on?" Scarlet asked, confusion rising along with another emotion. Fear.

"Just humor me o.k.? do you know who this is?" she asked, indicating the Asian woman, who leant in closer.

Scarlet gazed up into her face, into the green eyes surrounded by light brown skin, the hair hidden under a black headscarf and the long straight nose for something he recognized. There was nothing.

He shook his head, the fear growing in his stomach.  
"No. sorry."

The woman visible flinched, and Adam looked like someone had died.

"It's alright." Marigold said, gently taking his arm. "It's not important. Can you tell me who I am?"  
"Dr. Marigold. Julia Bedon. You're Dr. Gold's second in Command."

If he hadn't already known something was wrong, their reactions would have convinced him. Adam stepped back as though he'd been punched in the gut. The Asian woman visibly paled, and began digging in her uniform, as though searching for something. Dr Marigold's face was extremely concerned.

"o.k." she said, slowly, turning to face Adam and the Asian woman. "Can you wait in my office please?"

Adam nodded, and marched towards the door, only pausing when he realized the Asian woman wasn't behind him.

She was moving more slowly across the room, her head shaking as though she was trying to force a thought out of it. He noticed that she seemed to favor her right side. She lifted her head, noticed Adam waiting forward and ran to join him. They both stepped through the grey doors.

Dr Marigold turned back to face Scarlet, a professional smile plastered on her face.

"Right." She said grinning. "Now can you make a fist for me?"

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"It's bad isn't it?" Simone Giraudoux, in her former life known as Destiny Angel asked, as Captain Blue and Lieutenant Almond stepped into Dr Marigold's office.

Aside from a few personal effects, the room had changed little since it had been Dr Gold's office, and she was aware of a horrible sense of déjà vu as Adam started pacing.

Miriam Ad Bin yanked herself up to perch on the edge of the desk, using her good arm. She withdrew from her almond body amour a string of turquoise beads and began to fiddle with them before she answered.

"He's fully conscious," she said, with more than a hint of determination. "His fever is gone, and his vital signs are strong. He was able to talk to the doctor."

Simone waved these facts away as of secondary importance.

"His memory?" she demanded. "What about that?"

Adam winced visibly in the middle of his pacing. Miriam regarded the top bead of string which had a tiny compass in it. It was useless on Skybase, but still she fiddled desperately with it.

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"Yes, I can feel that!" Scarlet all but snapped at Dr Marigold as she pressed on his chest. "Now will you please tell me what's happened?!"

"Just one more question." Dr Marigold said her face grave. "What's the last thing you remember before waking up here?"

Scarlet's face creased as he thought back.

"I was on assignment." He said firmly, trying to ignore the expression on the doctor's face. "Captain Black was claiming he was free from Mysteron Control. We were on Mars to…to try and end the war." He closed his eyes, trying to force his brain to remember. "We were in the heart of the city. There was an explosion." He shook his head. "Then nothing."

Dr Marigold nodded her face with the controlled expression of one who must give her patient bad news, though she forced herself to smile.

"Well, I think I can give you some good news." She said. "The mission succeeded. The Mysterons sued for peace. Agreed to release you and Captain Black from their control."  
She sought comfort in the expression of joy upon his face, before he realized what she had not explained.

"How did I end up here?" he asked. "Was I injured in the explosion?" another frightening thought crossed his mind.

"Black, did he…?"

"Conrad is fine." Dr Marigold said, gently holding up her hand to calm her patient.

Drawing a deep breath and Fighting with every part of her body to remain professional, she said,

"Scarlet, that was five years ago."

Tbc


	2. Chapter 2 Coping

_the quote on tree base is from Romeo and Juliet. I wish I'd wrote it._

Coping

"You're quite sure doctor?"

Dr Marigold held 3 PhDs. Before serving in Spectrum she had spent years at some of the best hospitals in the world, as well as service in the military during the global terrorism war, but when ever she was confronted by Colonel White, she felt like she was 14 years old again, and had arrived at the headmistress's room with her skirt torn and her socks around her ankle.

"Unfortunately, yes sir. The last thing he can remember is the mission to Mars with Captain Black."

White nodded gravely. "How is he?"

Marigold shrugged. "Physically in better shape than most of the agents on active duty. Emotionally…" she shook her head and became intensely professional.  
"Owning to the need for beds, I have release Captain Scarlet. However, I am not signing him as fit for active duty for at least 3 weeks. During that time I have ordered him to report for counseling." She sighed. "Apart from that, all I do is leave it to time."

sssssssssssssssssssss

Paul Metcalf stood in his quarters, gazing around them. The others, Adam, Destiny, Lieutenant Almond and Conrad stood uncomfortably inside. Like the room, they were the same as he remembered them and yet at the same time infinitely different.

There was a photo showing him, his sister and nephew on a camping trip that he had no memory of, standing next to a couple of photos of him and Destiny.

Knickknacks that he didn't remember were on various surfaces, but the one that caught his eye was a delicate tree ornament, standing in a crystalline stone. Its trunk and branches were made of golden wire and its leaves were purple gemstones. For some reason he couldn't understand, Scarlet wandered over and lifted it up. Glancing at the base he read, in pretty appalling handwriting,

"to Paul, 'seek happy nights and happier days', Miriam."

Ignoring the gasp from Destiny, who he could not force himself to think of as Simone, he replaced it on a higher shelf.

Lieutenant Almond smiled slightly, and then swore, as her watch beeped. Consulting it, she sighed.

"I have to go." She said, glancing at Adam, then at Destiny and finally at Scarlet. Slowly she held out her hand. "Take care, Paul," she said gently. She then stepped out through the doors.

Adam muttered something about reporting to Colonel White and followed her out.

"She seems Nice." Scarlet said, slowly sitting down.

Destiny nodded enthusiastically.

"She's been really good for Adam."

"How did they meet?" he began, but stopped at the expression on Destiny's face. "I introduced them didn't I?"

Destiny nodded, the tears silently streaming down her face.

It took all of Paul's self control not to hit Conrad as he slid his arm around her.

sssssssssssssssssssss

Like the birds after which they were named, the Angel's aircraft landed smoothly on the runway.

Miriam forced her headscarf back, so it was out of her face, and moved instinctively towards the lead aircraft, as it reached the end of the conveyor belt.

"What's the matter?" she asked, as Rebecca Drake removed her helmet and shook her red hair free.

"Excuse me?"  
"You reported engineering difficulties on the radio. What is the trouble?"

Harmony Angel paused, suddenly remembering Lieutenant Green's some what gabbled instructions.

"Oh. She kept pitching to the left, nothing serious."

She was reward for her flippancy, by watching the black eyebrows come together in a frown.

"It's probably the afterburners. I said you should let me replace them when she was last in."

Harmony stepped out of the craft, as Miriam attacked, yes, that was the only word for it, the panels of the left side.

"She'd have been grounded for days. For a minor problem, it didn't seem…"  
"Minor!?" Miriam snapped. "It won't be minor if they cog up into the middle of mission and mean you can't bail out!"

O.K. Harmony thought, kneeling down next to the craft. She owed Serena an apology. Things were definitely bad to turn the normally even tempered Lieutenant Almond into this world wind.

"How's Paul?" she attempted to ask casually as the lieutenant reached for a wrench.

"He is in his quarters, but not fit for active duty yet."

"Uhu. And how's Adam?" Melody and Symphony Angel had come up behind them. Melody could not have chosen a worse moment had she tried.

To reach the afterburner outlets, you had to reach across one of the oil lines, and as Melody spoke, the wrench held in Almond's weaker left hand (her right was already inside fiddling with the jets), slipped through her fingers and caught the tube.

Oil sprayed out, covering all four of them. While the Angels sprang back, out of harms way, Miriam unleashed a volley of curses, as she slipped and struggled to regain her balance.

The sight would have been amusing, were it not that as the oil was cut by the autopilot, it was evident that the former terrorist was on the verge of tears.

Gently Caroline, the only one of the original angels not covered in oil, helped up.

"Come along." She said, slightly briskly. "Let's get you cleaned up."

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Strictly speaking, Captain Magenta was not an engineer. He had majored in it at College, discovered he disliked it, and since joining Spectrum had never had to make use of his knowledge.

Unfortunately with the flu bug devastating Sky Base, anyone who had any experience, however slight, in the main fields, was being drafted in.

It was a long time since college, and he was struggling to understand what the air traffic controller's diagnosis was, concerning a problem with "Fred" the robot controller on the flight deck, when 6 figures entered the deck. One of them was easily identifiable as Rhapsody Angel, and as another was the new Angel, he could make an educated guess.

"So," he asked, sliding over, "new beauty regime?"

Normally, all of them would have just ignored him. However while the four shoved past, the fifth, ran a hand over her face, worsening the oil smear and spoke rapidly.

Mario didn't speak Himan, Miriam's native language. But it contained enough similarities to Italian, for him to grasp the meaning.

"Sorry!" he muttered, returning to the somewhat peeved Air traffic controller.

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"Just out of curiosity," Esther Jackson asked, stepping out of the shower, "what did you call Mario?"

Despite the heaviness in her heart, Miriam had to fight to suppress a giggle as the water, now nearly black drained away from her feet.

"Technically I didn't call him anything." She replied, yanking her burqua over her head. She knew it was irrational, but she was still not comfortable with anyone, including Adam seeing exactly what had been done to her in her pre Spectrum life.

"I merely requested, impolitely I admit, that he leave us alone. And" she continued, pulling on the loose long sleeve T- Shirt and trousers that she worse beneath her body amour. "I may have," she fitted her headscarf, despite her hair still being wet and lifted the burqua away from her face. "Made a comparison between his scent and a male goat's."

The Angels exploded with laughter. Miriam grinned sheepishly.

"It was possibly a little harsh," Caroline began, as the first to recover.

"It was not." Yoko laughed, straighten up. "That cologne, he surrounds himself with, I'm surprise we don't all suffocate."

"Don't let Ochre hear you say that!" Helena Lambrakis, the newest of the Angels piped up nervously. She still wasn't entirely sure how she fitted into this organization, and was even less sure of Lieutenant Almond, who, because of her skills with the Falcons, had been nicknamed the sixth Angel.

"Indeed." Miriam agreed, as she strapped her utility belt on. "She would unleash blood upon us, and there is a high enough risk of that today." Her face darkened

"How bad is it?" Harmony was probably the only one who knew Miriam well enough to ask. Miriam sighed deeply.

"Bad." She admitted, for the first time even to herself. "Everything from the last five years is…" she waved her hands about. "Gone."

There was silence.

"How's he holding up?" Helena asked, almost immediately regretting it, as the gazes of her fellow pilots fell on her. Miriam didn't seem to notice.

"As well as can be expected."  
"And Adam?" Harmony asked, uncertainly. Miriam's face, if possible, darkened further.

"He will not speak to me."

The Angels nodded. Captain Blue was noted for his almost unflappable sense of calm, and his withdrawn nature when something was honestly bothering him. Most people who met Miriam presumed her to be the same, but her friends knew this was almost the exact opposite.

Like Blue, Miriam had a stoical attitude towards life, especially the many curve balls it had thrown her over the years. However unlike Blue, she might keep her friends at a distance, but she would, with a little prompting open up to them. Blue tended to keep things inside, until they could be translated into physical action.

"He just need's time," Ester volunteered.

Miriam nodded.

"I know that, Melody, but it doesn't make the waiting any easier." She shook her head and got to her.

"I best go and get the Falcon ready for flight."  
"Sure." Harmony said, nodding sadly.

TBC

O.k. Readers, I need your help. There's 3 ways this story can go after the next chapter, with three explanations for this strange new world. One is the classic Mysteron trick, which I'm personally not keen on as I like Lieutenant Almond. The second is it's the truth, but the Mysterons are back. Or the third is the Classic Dream/Hallucination. Let me know which one you think would be best. I know which one I like, but want to see if you like it too. so hit the purple button and let me know.


	3. Chapter 3 Midnight Snack

I own nothing

Chapter 3

Scarlet twisted and tossed on his bed. He hadn't found it this hard to sleep since his return from Mars and even then he didn't remember this level of frustration involved.

He sat up, irritably.

Memories. That was what it all came down to. Dr Marigold had warned him that he might suffer from insomnia, that given what had happen it was perfectly normal.

In fact she had wanted him to see Alex Autumn, Skybase's resident psychologist before she even released him. He had persuaded her against that, claiming he wanted a few hours to try and adjust to the idea. Alone.

But he hadn't got that. While Adam and Lieutenant Almond had left after checking he was safely back, Destiny and Conrad had remained until less than an hour ago.

Even then, they had offered to stay the night, only agreeing to leave when he had been downright rude.

A part of him regretted that, but a bigger part was concerned with the situation.

Five years. The changes that had happened had been huge, not least Conrad and Destiny. And Serena Lewis engaged to a British pilot of all things. The end of the war.

Initially he had believed that it might be a Mysteron trick, but Dr Marigold had disproved that, by taking DNA samples and testing them before his eyes. They were all negative, but even now, a part of him wasn't convinced. There were many who'd like to take advantage of a Spectrum agent, even many humans.

The trick, if he remembered correctly from his days in the Special Forces, was to isolate and confined the subject's movements. In a small area, say only a floor, the subject could be fooled. The idea was an old one, one of Adam's favourite movies, a James Garner one used the same idea, but in World War II.

Well there was one way to find out. He got up and flung on a jeans and a T-Shirt.

Stepping out into the corridor, he had to admire the care and the expense of whoever was responsible for this con, if it was a con.

The corridors had been perfectly recreated, right down to the scratches left from the swarm.

Slowly he made his way along the corridors. They were deserted, but as he reminded himself, this proved nothing. It was nearly midnight; indeed it would have more suspicious if there were people in the corridor.

He made his way to the flight deck and stopped at the sound of voices on there.

"…should be off shift. With Adam."  
"I already told you Rebecca, Adam contacted me a couple of hours ago. With the number of agents down with the flu, he's pulling a double shift. I might as well help out and do the same."

There was a sound of clanking and a muffled curse.

"What have you done to this bike Mario? It looks like it was dragged along the…"

She turned her head. Harmony smiled.

"Paul, it's good to see you…"  
Lieutenant Almond on the other hand, was moving to put the bike between her and Scarlet. Harmony at first looked at Almond baffled, but then she looked at Paul's face.

"Paul," she began, but Almond interrupted her.

"If you wish to leave Captain Scarlet, none of us will try and stop you. However I must advise against it."

"Miriam what are you…?"  
"He believes that this is a trick."  
"And you're willing to let him get killed to prove it isn't?"

"Do I have any other choice?"

"Yes." Harmony stepped forward. "Paul listen to me." She reached out and took his hand. "Feel me. I'm real and I'm me. Not some hallucination."  
"You could be a trick."  
"How do you explain this?" she indicated her face.

"A mask." He replied.

She shook her head.

"What can I say to convince you?"  
"Let me feel you face." Paul said. If it was a mask, he was sure he'd be able to tell.

Harmony glanced at Almond who moved out to stand beside her. Paul ran his hands over her face. He pulled at her skin and felt along the hairline.

There was no doubt. This was Rebecca Drake. Harmony Angel.

Suddenly the world started to spin.

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"Here." Lieutenant Almond made her way over from the pot with a Spectrum mug in her hands.

"Drink this."

She handed Scarlet the mug.

"My grandmother's remedy to aid recovery from a bad virus. Chicken with Lemon and ginger soup."

"Thanks." He held the mug uncertainly. Smiling slightly, she took the mug and sipped from it.

"Though that proves nothing." She admitted handing the mug back. "I could name about 20 poisons that I could eat unharmed, but that would kill you." Her face was smiling.

"Not really trying to make me feel better are you?" Paul joked, taking a sip from the mug. The soup was hot, thick and delicious, just what he needed. It also made him realise how hungry he was.

"Nothing I can do to do that." She slipped down to sit opposite him. The moon came though the window of the Angel's flight lounge, making the whole scene even more surreal.

Paul took another sip of the soup, as Almond sipped from her own mug.

"Camomile tea." She said, in answer to his unasked question. "To relax and calm me."

"I'm sorry." He admitted. "For back there."  
"Nothing to be sorry about." She replied, "I told Marigold that something like this might happen if she didn't give you more explanation." She smiled slightly. "At least this time you didn't shoot anyone."

He smiled back, uncertain.

"What did happen?" he asked after a pause.

Almond put her head on one side and regarded him for a few moments.

"Marigold said that we shouldn't tell you. That you might remember what we told you rather than what is true." She shook her head. "I told her that was mad, as it was highly unlikely that you would remember anyway." She shrugged. "If she asks, you figured it out for your self, or Simone told you."

She got to her feet and left the room. Scarlet drank some more of the soup. When Almond returned, a few moment's later, she was holding a hand held recorder.

"Do you remember this?" she asked uncertainly, as she pressed play.

His own voice, weak and exhausted came through the machine.

"Adam… They're back."

He shook his head. She nodded, her face slightly disappointed.

"I didn't think you would." She shrugged. "You do know the date right?"  
"7th January 2074."

She nodded. "It was Christmas Eve, or I suppose it was technically Christmas day. You'd arranged to spend Christmas Eve with Conrad and Simone," she stopped as he winced.

"Sorry it's going to take a while to get used to thinking of her as anything but Destiny Angel."

Something, he wasn't quite sure what flickered across her face before she continued.

"And to go on to your sister's for Christmas Day. Adam and I had just got off shift and were relaxing in his quarters." She paused, uncertain.

"I know you two are involved." He prompted gently.

She looked for a moment like she might laugh, then possibly sensing his impatience, continued.

"And that call came in." she shrugged. "Adam and I left Skybase to investigate."  
She spoke calmly, but her eyes betrayed her. The memories of the confusion and panic that call must have generated were reflected there. She sipped her tea a little more before continuing.

"When we arrived at their house, you were gone. That is to say you were not in your room, and as it was four in the morning and snowing heavily, that was worrying." She sipped her beverage and wrapped her hands around the mug. "We searched. For nearly 3 hours. Finally when we were about to give up…" She paused as though debating some inner point, and continued.

"Adam decided to go over an area we'd searched previously. We'd found your body armour there, so we knew you'd gone that way. Adam was sure, and so was I if I'm totally honest, that you couldn't have gone far, despite Conrad been convinced you had.

"We found you. Huddled under some leaves. Someone" she fingered the edge of her body armour and Scarlet saw a flash of colour. "Must have been watching over you. Another hour, another 15 minutes, they said in A&E and you'd have died."

She shook her head. "Marigold has still to forgive herself for letting you go without testing you for the flu. Both of Simone and Conrad said you were acting odd." She shook herself. "Hindsight makes prophets out of us all."

Paul smiled slightly and she suddenly became more like herself. "Once they'd stabilised you, Adam and I brought you back here. From then, till this morning," she looked at her watch, "o.k. Yesterday morning, you were very ill. Fever of 104, 105; delirious; unconscious, in a coma for parts. We all thought we were going to lose you. Then last night, with no warning, your fever broke." She sighed. "I suppose we're in the right season for miracles."

"It can't have been fun." Paul said, sympathetically.

"Certainly not the way I planned to spend Epiphany" she said, smiling, "but we came through it."

She sipped her tea and said, very firmly.

"It will be alright!"  
"But," Paul said, finally voicing the worry that had been plaguing him since he accepted this was reality. "What if I never get back those memories?"  
She took his now empty mug and refilled it.

"Then" She replied, handing it back, "we just make some more."

TBC

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I am pleased to announce that…the plot bunnies have spoken. This is a future reality, with 6 chapters written so far. I really sorry to anyone who wanted a dream/hallucination, and hope you will still read this and my other stories and review them.


	4. Chapter 4 Memories

Sorry for the delay in updating people and that the chapter is so short. The next one is longer. Not sure where this one came from, but Hope you like it. Reviews make me update faster (but only nice ones. If you don't like it...well no ones making you read this) A lot of the dialogue between Scarlet, Destiny and Black comes from the episode Enigma (another one of my favourites)

Chapter 4

_Night of 23__rd__/morning of 24__th__ 2074_

"_Maca!" the golden square spinner blurred, before falling, the small stick top pointing at one of the four piles of gold counters._

"_o.k." Serena asked, picking up one of the counters. "What does this one mean?"_

_Miriam carefully held out her hand and examined it._

"_It's a felixo. This one means," she said, holding it between her thumb and forefinger, "protection from your enemies."_

"_Could all use some of that." Serena smiled as the coin was replaced in the pile._

"_I thought," Captain Grey observed, "that your elders disapproved of fortune telling and gambling?"_

_Miriam nodded, handing the spinner over to Captain Magenta. "Normally yes. But you see today, doesn't exist, legally in Hira."_

"_It feels pretty real." Ester observed, half laughing. _

_Miriam smiled. "Advent finished yesterday. Christmas is tomorrow, and after that Epiphany. Today is nothing so it's like…"she waved her hand, while she sort the word "like Christmas in European in the middle ages. The world is turned upside down. What is normally not allowed is. At home, the men will wear women's clothes and cook, while the women will wear men's clothes."_

"_I'm relieved that you didn't insist on that." Mario said, gripping the spinner. "O.K. I just spin it and call out Maca?"_

_Miriam nodded. "Maca means literally show me, but it's got more of a religious meaning, so it's usually translated as Emmanuel show me the way."_

"_o.k." Mario asked, interrupting her explanation. "What does this one mean? Am I going to get lucky?"  
His eyes rested teasingly on Captain Ochre, who rolled her eyes. It was a long standing joke that while they weren't dating, Ochre was the only woman who he could flirt with, without a broken leg._

"_Sorry Mario." Miriam replied, "This one's known as the bachelor's button. Another year alone." She turned her head as Colonel White entered,_

"_Sir would you like to try?"_

"_Try what Lieutenant?"_

"_Macan, sir. It's a…well; I suppose it's a game of sorts. We used to use it as a way of telling the future. It's just a bit of fun and a bonding exercise really, sir." She trailed off. White nodded, joining the circle._

"_You spin the spinner sir, and call Maca"_

"_I am aware of how the game works Lieutenant!" White snapped._

"_Sorry sir." Miriam sank back, aware that White had reminded everyone of the games other use, before attacks. She smiled as the spinner fell facing a pile and examine White's coin._

"_An excellent one for a man with a daughter sir." She said. "It means a wedding." Her face fell as White's face darkened._

"_It's just a game, sir." As white marched off, she shook her head and muttered something in Hiran under her breath. _

"_You're not to blame that he doesn't like his daughter's boyfriend" Ochre said, cheerfully, taking her turn. She was informed that there was a journey on the horizon._

"_You're next Paul." Adam said, putting his arm on Miriam shoulder. She reached up and gripped it, absentmindedly._

_Captain scarlet wandered over. As the game was started by an unmarried female, it had to be finished by an unmarried male; he and Mario had flipped for the somewhat dubious honor of finishing the game. Carefully he span the golden box and it fell pointing to the fourth pile, which nearly no one had hit._

"_o.k." he said, holding out the small counter. "What's this one mean? There romance on the cards for me?"_

"_no." Miriam said, taking the counter form him, her face furrowed. "It's the feles tigri est."_

"_Well what does that mean?" Adam asked, confused._

_Miriam lifted to gaze with her dark eyes at Captain Scarlet._

"_It means the return of an enemy."_

_

* * *

_

_Christmas Eve 2076_

_He had fallen asleep on the plane, and presumed he had done so on the taxi ride here. Now he was standing in a snow-covered driveway of a house, all decorated for Christmas, trying to summon the courage to knock on the door. Before he had a chance to however, the door was flung open._

_His heartbeat quicken as he saw Destiny, no she was Simone now, standing in the door._

"_Paul. What kept you?" she asked, she said, kissing him on the cheek.  
"The kids are so excited. Come in."_

_He obeyed, stepping over the threshold into an orange papered landing._

"_Err nice place." He said, more for something to say than anything else. She smiled; pointing to a table where he placed the package he was carrying._

"_I hope you haven't gone crazy."  
"You tell me." He muttered._

"_Paul! Glad you could make it." Conrad Lefkon stepped out of a room off the landing. He held out his hand and grasped Paul's in it_

"_You look like you could use a drink." Conrad said, his voice falsely bright "and I those kids could do with some cake to calm them down."_

"_I'll take care of it, Conrad." __**Simone Giraudoux-Lefkon**__ once known as Destiny Angel stood on tiptoe to kiss her husband, and vanished to handle their two charming children._

"_This can't be." Paul muttered. _

_Conrad's face fell._

"_Come on Paul." He said, with a note of despair and frustration in his voice. "When you accepted this invitation...Simone and I, we thought. We'd moved beyond that."_

_Captain Scarlet had no answer for that._

_

* * *

_

"_Come on Mom." Adam ran his hands though his hair and prayed for strength. "I told you. I got Thanks Giving, so Paul gets Christmas." He breathed though his teeth. "Look I'll try to make it home for New Year. O.K.? Love ya too. Bye." He groaned softly as the connection was broken._

"_She does realise," Miriam said, wandering into the room with a fruit cocktail in her hand. "That she will eventually have to accept we're together?"_

"_She will." Adam said, "You won over dad. That was the one I was worried about." _

_Miriam laughed. "No she won't. No woman will ever be good enough for her son, especially not ex-terrorist!"_

_Gently Adam smiled with her, wrapping his arms around her, kissing the back of her neck._

"_You talk to Ardeth?" he asked. Miriam nodded._

"_He o.k.?"_

_Miriam nodded, smiling slightly._

"_Yeah, he's fine"_

"_So what's so funny?" _

_Miriam smile broadened, snuggling into Adam, as he sunk on to the couch. "He has 40 boys and young men of our tribe to handle. Many of which," she continued, resting her head on his chest "this will be their first celebration in the West."_

"_He's got his hands full then?" Adam asked, smiling._

"_I expect so." She sighed softly._

"_You o.k.?"_

"_Yeah, it's just…early, in the observation's deck, brought back some memories. Good ones," she hastened to reassure. "But, I guess… I never realise how much I missed it. Not the action," she reassured, "but the complete and total belief in something."_

_She shook her head. "I'm not sure how I got out of there, and frankly I don't care, but…" she shook her head. "Sorry. Guess I'm not really making a lot of sense."_

"_Hey." Adam said, gently pulling her close. "You were in there for most of your life. Most of your family still is. It's Christmas. It's only natural to miss them."_

"_For you maybe. For us, this is a religious occasion. The time for family is not till after the New Year." She shook her head. "It's crazy. I knew what it meant when I left and I don't regret it. And I shouldn't care about them." She said, getting her feet. "They're terrorists. Since I left, they've murdered about ten thousand people that we know of."_

"_Hey. Hey." Adam said, getting to his feet as well. "They're your family. That trumps everything." _

_She turned smiling to look at him._

"_You're amazing, you know that right?"_

"_I don't know." Adam replied, smiling gently. "I'm in love with a pretty amazing woman."_

_Her smile became a proper one at that. She moved gently towards him, her lips parted for a kiss, as suddenly._

"_Lieutenant Silver to Captain Blue." _

_They drew apart, with Blue muttering,_

"_Way to ruin a moment Bethany."_

_He touched his watch._

"_Blue here." _

"_Personal message incoming."_

"_I'll take it here." Miriam began gathering up their glasses, and preparing to depart, while Adam tried to figure out who could be call at, he glanced at the clock, nearly midnight._

_He pressed the button as the message came through._

_A voice, weak and exhausted, but still identifiable, came into the room._

"_Adam…they're back!"_

_

* * *

_

Paul Metcalf sat bolt up right in bed.

"Meca" he muttered to himself.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5 Revelations

I own nothing. The information about hypothermia is gathered from Wikipedia (all hail).

Chapter 5

"It's incredible." Rebecca said, walking around, stroking the white paint work of the Flacon. Miriam poked her head up over the wing, smiling.

"It's nothing. It wasn't the afterburners, though I changed them. The left internal combustor was operating at 10 lower capacity. That's why it kept pitching. That, plus," she glanced at her watch. "Five straight shifts and she's all yours."

"You've finished?" Melody asked, in surprise.

"Just got to close up." She dropped out of sight, as Destiny entered.

"What's she doing here?" demanded Symphony. Lieutenant Almond didn't have to lift her head to know what the problem was.

"She asked Colonel White for permission to stay. She and Conrad are in the visitor's quarters. They're supposed to be under guard, but with the flu" she shrugged.

"You want to get something to eat?"

Miriam shook her head.

"I'm meeting Adam for lunch as soon as I've finished up here."

"See you later."

"Guess I'm not forgiven." Destiny observed, wandering over as her former teammates walked away.

"Humm!" Miriam replied, keeping her eyes upon the machine.

"I've said I'm sorry, more times than I can remember. I wasn't myself."

Miriam clenched her teeth; her eyes never leaving the wires and circuits boards.

"It's wasn't my fault."

"And it wasn't mine!" Miriam snapped, slamming the panel shut. "But I got blamed. I hadn't been in Spectrum for more than 2 weeks, but you nearly got me thrown out, from the only place I've been genuinely welcome." Her eyes had narrowed to silts, and her voice was low and fast. "Now look. I'll put up with you more than the others for Paul's sake," they were now only inches apart and her voice was little more than a whisper. "But I don't like you Simone, and I'm not fooled by you."

A sound in the corridor made her step back.

"Hey." Conrad Lefkton stood there. "Everything o.k.?"  
Miriam might have given him an honest answer, if she had not seen Captain Scarlet standing in the shadows of the corridor.

"Fine." She said. "Excuse me."

She walked away from the trio.

* * *

"Hypothermia has three stages." Dr Marigold moved around the beds, towards her visitor. "In stage 1, body temperature drops by 1-2°C below normal temperature. The victim is unable to perform complex tasks with the hands; the hands become numb. Blood vessels in the outer extremities constrict, lessening heat loss to the outside air. Breathing becomes quick and shallow. Goose bumps and shivering occur. Often, a person will experience a warm sensation, as if they have recovered, but they are in fact heading into Stage 2. In stage 2, body temperature drops by 2-4°C. Shivering becomes more violent. Movements are slow and labored, accompanied by a stumbling pace and mild confusion, although the victim may appear alert. The victim becomes pale. Lips, ears, fingers and toes may become blue. In stage 3," she said, entering her office and dropping into her chair.

"Body temperature drops below approximately 32 °C Shivering usually stops. Difficulty speaking, sluggish thinking, and amnesia start to appear; inability to use hands and stumbling are also usually present. Cellular metabolic processes shut down. Below 30 °C the exposed skin becomes blue and puffy, muscle coordination becomes very poor, walking becomes almost impossible, and the victim is incoherent and/or irrational. Pulse and respiration rates decrease significantly but fast heart rates can occur. Major organs fail. Clinical death occurs. Because of decreased cellular activity in stage 3 hypothermia, the body will actually take longer to undergo brain death." Captain Blue nodded, baffled by this information.

"Captain Scarlet's body temperature," Dr Marigold was now regarding her computer screen, "when admitted to the hospital, was 29 °C."  
Captain Blue shrugged.

"Scarlet's survived death before." He said. "And isn't clinical death less certain with Hypothermia?" he remembered his father telling him about a guy who being revived after being buried in a snow drift for hours.

Dr Marigold nodded.  
"Indeed. However the Maximum time observed for this recovery, is 4 hours."

"So retrometabolisation worked in our favour again." Adam responded

He had no idea why Dr Marigold had summoned him here and was frankly a little concerned by the conversation thus far.

In response to this, Dr Marigold pulled up a spectrum medical file.

"My predecessor made a fairly extensive study of the retrometabolisation process. His belief and I will say that it is backed by significant evidence, was that for clinical death from Hypothermia to occur would take, at the temperatures involve take approximately 3 hours, same as with a normal person. The retrobmetabolisation would then knick in. however if he was not removed from the source, then the process would begin again. The process is adversely affected by heat, but not by the cold."

"So we found Scarlet quickly." Adam was becoming more and more confused by this conversation.

Marigold sighed.

"Captain, the call alerted you to the situation came in when?"  
"Just after midnight."  
"You arrived at the house when?"  
"About four."

"And," Marigold finished triumphantly. "Scarlet was admitted to hospital in Stage 3 hypothermia at 0730 hours."

She watched with a feeling of pride as the blonde American did the calculations. "You see?"  
"Theoretically," blue said slowly. "Scarlet should have been in stage 2." He paused, "maybe it was colder than it was earlier on?"  
Marigold shook her head. "I checked the temperature monitoring stations. If anything it was warmer after you got there on account of the snow. Which," she added. "Started at approximately 3am."

"So Scarlet should have been in stage 2…"  
"Yet when I spoke to the doctor at the hospital, he identified the patient as being in stage 3 hypothermia. Indeed he admitted he was reluctant to try imersionation, seeing it as pointless. He only agreed to after, and I quote, "that Hiran bitch threatened to cut me into seven thousand pieces, scatter me to the four winds and feed anything that remained to the pigs," if he didn't do everything he could to save Scarlet."

Blue was forced to smile at Miriam's threats, despite his anger at the racism of the doctor. Dr Marigold was also smiling.

"Scarlet responded well to imersionation, and was at," she consulted her notes. "0900 hours considered sufficiently stable to be removed from the tank and arrangements were made for his transferral to Skybase."

Adam nodded. He'd heard all this from both Marigold and Miriam during their debriefing.

"However at 0920 hours, a nurse is summoned by Mrs Lefton in a terrible state. Captain Scarlet had developed a dangerously high fever and was"  
"doc," Adam interrupted. "What are you saying?"  
Despite being clearly annoyed, Dr Marigold got to her feet and wandered over to a microscope.

"Captain Scarlet's flu showed unique features. No one else had it as bad, so I took a sample, hoping to get a head's up." She moved aside. "Look."

Adam did so, staring at the scene.  
"This is the sample of the virus I extracted from Captain Scarlet. And this," she spilt the screen in two. "Is the flu virus that's been devastating Skybase."  
Blue was no expert, but even he could see that the two were different.

"You think someone tried to kill scarlet?"

Marigold nodded.

"With a specially modified virus."

* * *

"She's going to hurt him again." Miriam sipped her drink, while she regarded the table where Paul Metcalf, Conrad and Simone Lefton sat. The table was been given a wide berth by almost every member of Spectrum.

"Scarlet can look after himself." Adam muttered distractedly.

"Were it any other female member of Spectrum, I'd agree with you. Not her." She sipped some more of her milk shake before continuing. "He's still in love with her. What's more, she knows it. And" she added, watching Simone laugh and toss her hair. "She's enjoying it."  
"No one's ever as hard on a woman, as a member of her own sex." Adam remarked automatically. Miriam smiled.

"Works for men as well." She drained her drink before remarking. "O.k. spill."  
"Excuse me?"  
"You've been an automaton all lunch. So tell me what's caused it before I accuse Dr Marigold of having brain washed you."

Coming from a former terrorist, who undoubted was well aware of the procedures involved, Adam was forced to laugh. Glancing around to check that no one was listening, he summarised his conversation with Dr Marigold.  
Lieutenant Almond didn't seem surprised, and Adam was forced to conclude that she had probably already guessed most of it. She sat, her brows furrowed for a few minutes, before asking,

"Do you think I've got enough leave to get off Skybase?"

TBC


	6. Chapter 6 Enquiries

Chapter 6

This, Harmony thought, had to be the weirdest day ever. And for an Angel pilot, that was saying something.

She had been asked by Colonel White to act as bodyguard, come Chaperon for Lieutenant Almond, who had requested some leave.

First they had brought a laptop, despite Harmony knowing that Miriam had a perfectly good one on Skybase. The purchase of the lap top had been strange as well, with Miriam apparently unconcerned about all its other features, only concerned that it had internet access.

Then she had asked Harmony if they could drive into the centre of the desert.

At a certain point miles from anywhere, Miriam had stopped her bike, got off and walked nearly 10 metres away from the bikes, where she had sat down and opened the laptop. She had then typed obsessively, seeming random letters for 4 minutes. She had now got to her feet and turning asked if she could borrow Harmony's sidearm. Harmony handed it over, with a queer sense of being in dream, which was shattered as Miriam lifted and aimed the weapon.

The laptop shattered the pieces littering the desert.

"Do I wanna know why you did that?" Harmony asked, still shaking.

Miriam regarded her with her head on one side for a moment.

"Probably not." She admitted. "But I think you've earned one."

* * *

Adam was not happy.

The revelation that someone had tried to kill his best friend was worrying, and, while he would never admit it to anyone, the continuing presence of the Leftons was unnerving him.

He surveyed the latest data from Mars and noticed something odd.

The mysterious signals that had first drawn them to the planet were back.

* * *

They sat in silence in the diner, Miriam with an ice cream and Harmony with a piece of pie. She picked at it, waiting.

Licking her spoon, Miriam broke the silence.

"You remember what I told you before we left?"  
"That you, Adam and Marigold thought that someone had tried to kill Paul?"  
Miriam nodded.

"A genetically engineered flu virus isn't that hard to do. But to do one which could kill just one person, without infecting other, that is hard."  
"What makes you think it was designed to kill only one person."  
"Adam, Simone and I are all well. No. to do that there is only one man. The Scorpion King."  
"Sounds like," Harmony admitted, taking a forkful of pie, "a Horror movie villain." She stopped at the look on Miriam's face.  
"Do not underestimate him. He is one of the greatest genetic engineers and microbiologists in the world." She took a sip of lemonade. "He is also incredibly dangerous."  
"So," Harmony said, uncomfortably. "You intend to contact him?"

"I intend," Miriam said, carefully. "To make sure he is still alive."

She paused.

"A long time ago, soon after the American invasion of my country, it was established that if the Infidels were to be made to leave, we must be able to make contact while away from home. A website was set up."  
"So that's what you were accessing." Harmony said, suddenly understanding something more Miriam's actions.

Miriam nodded.  
"It's a message board. Unless you have the correct code, it just looks like a slightly risqué games site. Nothing illegal, but something you might be a little nervous about accessing. Messages can be left for family."  
Noticing the expression on Harmony's face, she said.  
"I used Ardeth's code; he's always on there, just to let various people know their children are alive. I have asked my brother, Oded, to find out if the Scorpion King is still alive."

Harmony nodded, reviewing what little she knew of Miriam's family.

"Can he be trusted?"  
Miriam considered this for a moment before nodding.  
"Yes. I think were he not the oldest he would leave. But he will be the head of our tribe, when my father dies, and he has no special skills to persuade anyone to offer him sanctuary."  
Unlike you, Harmony thought. Besides her skill with engines, Miriam was a chemist of an order to challenge most of Spectrum's finest. Her brother, Ardeth if Harmony remembered correctly, was noted as a formidable warrior and apparently knew a lot of things that various governments would prefer never came to light. He also was a memorising speaker, able to talk many children and young men away from a life of terror. This had lead to the British government offering him asylum. Harmony knew that brother and sister rarely spoke and both were outcastes from their family.

Miriam watched her for a moment before adding,

"Internet usesage can be traced to the computer, hence why I destroyed it, and why I didn't do it on Spectrum. I did not want anyone to be hurt."

"How do you mean?" harmony asked. Miriam paused.

"My family will never believe that Ardeth and I left willingly. They believe we were forced to leave, and," she finished her drink and got to her feet. "If they ever found out where I was, they would kill everyone on Spectrum." She headed back to the raider bikes.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7 Answers

Author's note: **bold Hiran.** Thanks to everyone for their wonderful reviews. Keep them coming, they honestly do make me write quicker.

Chapter 7

"Skybase Control to harmony Angel. How's she handling?"  
"Beautifully. You're a miracle worker, Almond."  
Miriam standing by her monitoring station couldn't help but smile.

"SIG, Angel, but keep pushing her. The drills in less than 2 days, and I want to show those RAF boys who's boss."

"SIG Almond."

Miriam couldn't help smiling, as the data came in. The replacement of the Afterburners had increased the speed and efficiency of fuel consumption, proving the validation of her theory. She became lost in the data, when a hand touched her on her shoulder.

"Skybase! Everything alright?"  
"Yeah!" Miriam said, gazing at her guest. "Captain Scarlet just startled me."  
"SIG. Resuming Patrol."  
"SIG Angels, handing you over to Lieutenant Green."  
"SIG"

Shaking her head, Miriam gazed at Captain Scarlet.

"Don't seek up on me like that!"

The anger in her tone was evaporated at the look of confusion and exhaustion.

"You got a minute?"

Miriam paused, then punched in a request for relief. She was fairly sure that Colonel White would not object.

"Where?" she asked.  
"The standby lounge, I've asked Adam to meet us there."

Miriam nodded.

* * *

"I'm," Scarlet said, as they sat on one of the couches in the Standby lounge. "Starting to remember things."  
"That's great!" Adam said, grinning.

"Maybe."  
"What do you remember?" Miriam asked, sipping her tea.

"Bits and pieces, but it's not making any sense."  
"The memories?"  
"No. The order in which they're coming back."  
"How do you mean?"  
Scarlet got to his feet and began to pace across the floor.

"I remember having a conversation with you about being isolated, untrusted and how hard that can be."  
Miriam nodded.  
"That happened about 3 years ago, but I can't remember what happened before and why we were having that conversation." He spun around. "I can remember almost everything from the last night, except what happened after I entered the house."  
"So what's wrong with that?" Adam asked, with a nervous glance at Miriam.

"They should have come back chronologically. That's what Alex said."  
"Not always." Miriam said cautiously. Seeing the confusion on Scarlet's face she added.  
"We've been presuming that your memory loss was a result of the flu, or some injury incurred while you were out in the wood."  
Both men nodded.

"But, if it wasn't the result of that, if it was the result of a reaction to shock, then the memories might come back all jumbled up."

Paul nodded.

"O.k. so why can't I remember what happened that night?"  
Miriam shrugged.  
"Perhaps you don't want to?"  
"Why?"

Miriam shook her head.

"What ever happened was bad enough to cause you to forget the last five years."

Paul conceded the point.

"So how do I remember?"  
"You have to want to and," Miriam said, getting to her feet as the sound of the Angels returning filled the air. "To really try."

She walked out of the lounge.

Paul glanced at Adam, who shrugged.

"She's got a bad habit of being right about these things." He said, finishing his coffee.

* * *

Miriam was with Lieutenant Green, going over the results of the Angels' drills when the call came.

As regulations required, she took it with a translator listening in.

Ardeth was straight and to the point.

"**How did you know?" **he demanded.

"**How did I know what?"  
"That the Scorpion King was dead."**

Miriam bowed her head forward**.**

"**What happened? Did Oded tell you?"  
**Ardeth's long hair rustled as he shook his head**.**

"**No. I had it from the horse's mouth, though I am not sure if I believe it."**

"**Why not?"  
**Ardeth sighed.

"**The lad almost started a riot. The police arrested him and brought him here. He claimed that a demon came into the shop, killed his master and then," **he shook his head**. "Brought him back to life, as an ****nzúmbe"** he snorted slightly.

"**He attacked the creature with fire and started a blaze that nearly destroyed the whole area. The police searching the ruins, found no sign of a body."**_**  
**_He gazed at his younger sister, with an expression of concern.

"**Is the lad still with you?"**_**  
**_Ardeth nodded.

"**Keep him there. I will come soon, with someone who will be very interested in what the child has to say."**

**tbc**


	8. Chapter 8 Searching

**I own nothing. The quotes about the green stuff come from the episode "Skin deep". Nice reviews make me update sooner.**

**Chapter 8**

"You're quite sure?" Sir Charles Grey regarded his visitors with a mild suspicion.

Miriam nodded.

"The flu bug should not have affected Scarlet. That's a noted fact." Marigold volunteered. "That virus was genetically engineered."  
" I have only ever heard of one man who would try this." Miriam said, firmly.

"The Scorpion King appears in a lot of the reports from the Terrorism wars." Adam added.

Colonel White paced across the steel floor.

"If the Mysterons have returned, we can't afford to wait."

He glanced at Miriam.

"Go and speak to the boy. Confirm his story."  
"Sir." Miriam got to her feet.

"And take Captain Blue with you." The colonel added. "He knows more about the Mysterons than you."

"Sir

* * *

There was nothing spectacular about the house. It stood amidst similar Edwardian villas on a side street.

Miriam and Adam had both wore coats to hide their Spectrum uniform, and had turned off their location beacons within a mile of the house.

This was a necessary precaution. The Hira were noted for not letting anyone go without a fight, and it was less than a year since Siena Al Bann had been murdered, when she had left her betrothed to married a western man. Not only had her body been left sprawled across a Church steps, her unborn fetus had been found impaled on the altar.

Miriam walked up the risen steps, and knocked, twice above the knocker and once below.

The door was opened on a chain, and a good looking woman with scarlet hair gazed out. However when she saw Miriam, she smiled, opening the door.

Adam followed her into another world.

The walls of the hall were hung with clothes and the lights were draped in shawls. Various symbols were painted on them, some recognizable, others less so.

On the stairs stood Ardeth Bay.

Ardeth was taller than his sister, and his eyes were brown, instead of green. His hair was black and long, tied back beneath a head scarf. His face, like all males of his race above 14, was tattooed with strange symbols, both to identify them as members of a tribe and to bring good fortune.

He embraced his sister and nodded to Adam.

"He is up stairs." He said softly, and spun on the spot. They followed him up.

"What do you think of him?" Miriam asked, speaking in English for Adam's benefit.

Ardeth shrugged.

"I doubt he will live. This world is too alien to him, and the police mocked him about the demon." he turned so suddenly, that Adam was nearly thrown down the stairs.  
"Tell me the truth. Was it a demon?"

Miriam lifted heavy eyes to him.

"If we are correct," she said slowly. "Then it was a demon. But like the worse of them, Flesh and blood, or something like that." She admitted, not entirely sure how you would describe Scarlet or Black.

Ardeth appeared to accept his sister's explanation, as he opened the door.

The boy was about 16, crouched in a corner of the room, his head resting on his arms. He jumped up, brandishing a knife as they entered, yelling at them in his native tongue. Ardeth and Miriam both spoke, softly and smoothly calming him down.

They all knelt on the carpet.

Miriam asked a question and the boy spoke.

His account was exactly what he had told the police.

A strange man had come into their shop and asked them for a favor. He had given them the make up of a man, and asked for a virus to kill him. That had been on the feast of St Nicolas, as he wasn't supposed to be in the shop. His master had been pleased, as the stranger had promised a lot of money for the virus. It had been difficult, but the master had completed it by the feast of St Thomas Apostle. Then the stranger had come to claim it.  
Here Miriam interrupted to ask what the stranger had looked like. The boy became very animated, and Adam struggled to keep up.

Glancing at Miriam, she translated.

"He says that the stranger was tall, with complexion like a corpse. His hair was black, and his eyes, he thought were brown."  
"He thought?"

"Let him tell his tale." Ardeth muttered.

The stranger had been shown the virus, and reassured of its effectiveness, and the lack of danger to the carrier. Then he had asked for his money. The stranger had said,

"Ahh yes. The green stuff. I have some green stuff for you." He then stabbed his master in the stomach. The boy, whose name was Thomas, had been hidden in the back room. He saw his master fall to the ground, and he was afraid. He then saw the stranger's eyes glow green. His master had screamed, before rising to his feet apparently unharmed, after a strange green light had passed over him. That was when he knew that the man was a demon.

Terrified he had followed the demon. He wandered through the twisted lanes, and streets, until he had reached the main street. There he had met an angel.

This had not been mentioned to the police, and indeed both Ardeth and Miriam asked him to confirm this, which he did. When asked to describe the angel, he pointed at Adam. Ardeth looked surprised.

"He says that she looked like Adam."  
Further investigation, revealed that the angel had been a woman, a little older than Miriam, with hair paler than Adam's and violet eyes. She had had two small children with her, but more than that he did not know, as the angel kissed the demon, and he lost her.

He had then made his way back to the shop, where he had found his master about to open one of the Petri dishes. He didn't know the English for what was in that dish and neither Miriam nor Ardeth seemed to know, but he knew it was very bad and could kill millions. He had tried to get his master to stop, but he had not seemed to see him. So to protect the faithful, he had grabbed a Bunsen burner. The rest was fairly oblivious.

The two spectrum agents thanked Ardeth and Thomas, and Miriam promised to keep in contact.

Once away from the house, they looked at each other.

"Sure sounds like they're back." Adam said slowly.

Miriam nodded.  
"Question is, what are we going to do about it?"

* * *

Scarlet sat perfectly still on his bed. Miriam had suggested that if he tried hard enough, he might be able to remember what had happened that night. Unfortunately, he'd being trying for nearly 3 hours with no luck. Stiff and exhausted, he got to his feet and walked into his main quarters.

Suddenly, something made him spin around, searching for danger. But there was nothing there, except…his eyes met his own. The mirror.

"_You sure you can't stay any longer?" Destiny asked, sinking down next to Conrad on the sofa. "The kids would love to spend some more time with their uncle Paul."_

_He shook his head._

"_Carrie would kill me." He said, taking another sip of wine. _

_He wasn't sure it was a good idea. Since he arrived here, he'd been feeling lousy. He had to just hope he hadn't caught the flu bug that was devastating Skybase. If he brought that home with him, Carrie would never forgive him._

_Conrad was saying something, but he couldn't hear him. His head was spinning, his stomach churning. He wanted to go to bed, but wasn't sure his legs would support him._

_Destiny's hand was on his arm, her concerned face swimming before his vision._

"_Paul are you alright?" her voice seemed to echo around the room._

_Conrad was getting to his feet, retrieving the bottle and the glasses._

_Destiny's was in front of the fire, on the mantelpiece beneath the mirror. Black was straightening up, talking, saying something, but he couldn't hear him._

_Then he saw Black's reflection…_

Paul gazed at his own face.  
"What did I see there," he muttered to himself. "That frightened me so much?"

Tbc

Only 3 chapters to go, but I have a presequel planned, so you can look forward to that.


	9. Chapter 9 The Truth

I own nothing, but nice reviews make me update sooner.

Chapter 9

The sheriff chewed tobacco. Despite it been nearly five degrees below freezing, he stood at the edge of the wooded area in a short sleeved shirt, chewing tobacco and regarded the Spectrum agents with a deep seated suspicion.

"You got my message?" He demanded.

Captain Blue nodded.

"You said you'd found something?"

The head moved up and down, but the eyes never lieutenant Almond, who stood, with a bag flung over one shoulder.

"Lieutenant Almond is one of Spectrum's foremost chemists." Blue said testily, noticing the man's eyes resting on her left wrist, where the snake's head poked out. "She is here to aid in the investigation."

With a shrug that seemed to say, it's your funeral, Sheriff Timothy led them into the woods.

"Been getting warmer for days." He drawled. "Snows melting. One of my guys found it, when they were looking for a lost dog." He turned to face them. "You think your guy was poisoned?"

"It's one possibility." Adam was glad that Miriam answered, even if she couldn't keep her eyes off the sheriff's mouth.

He snorted.

"Well, here it is."

The mixture lay amidst the melting snow, yellow and brown. It had not completely melted, so the smell was absent, for which Blue was grateful. Miriam, apparently unperturbed by the realization of what this was, knelt down and scooped a small amount of it into a test tube.

The mixture bubbled, turning form yellow to a vivid green.

Miriam nodded, satisfied.

"GBH." She said with conviction.

"The date rape drug?" the Sheriff's eyes are wide.

"That's one of its uses."

Adam interrupted before she could go into its other uses,

"Can you tell whose it is?"  
With a slight shrug, Miriam lifted her watch and ran it over the test tube.

"Contains Mysteron DNA. Either Scarlet's or Black's" she glanced up. "Can't be more certain than that."

"Terrific." Adam muttered.

* * *

Ardeth's Name in Hiran meant shadow. This seemed appropriate tonight.

The stairs were creaky, but his feet made no noise on them as he moved up them. He was drawn by the sense that western science had no time for, but which the Hira had trained to an art.

He listened to the normal sounds of the house settling for the evening, the calls of the prayers of the faithful, a chapter of The Book, Luke he thought, the talk of the women in the kitchen, the volunteers been guided out by Evie. Then he froze, as a new sound, a foreign sound that had no place here played in his ears.

* * *

"You do realize," Adam asked, as they stood amidst the melting snow on The Lefton's doorstep. "That's it's illegal to carry lock picks unless you're a locksmith?"  
Miriam lifted her head to gaze up at him.

"I have a tattoo of a snake on my wrist, a set of prayer beads in my jacket pocket, and enough bomb scars on my body to suggest I've been blown up three or four times. If we are caught," she returned her attention to the lock. "I think the lock picks in my bag will be the least of their worries. Qua'pal!" the Hiran word for success hit his ears, along the click of the lock.

As she straightened up, he pushed the door open.

"Right." He said slowly. "Now we just have to figure out what the heck we're looking for."

* * *

"It is urgent that I speak with her." The soft accent that she heard almost every day for Miriam sounded strange from a man.

"As I have already told you, Lieutenant Almond is unavailable. If you'd like to leave a message, I'll make sure she gets it."

"Dath!" the Hiran curse made Lieutenant Green raise her eyebrows.

"There is no need for profanities sir."

Ardeth did seem to hear her.

"You must contact her. Tell her that the lad suckled from the asp. Tell her that it wasn't a Porter, it was a Luficie."

"SIG, Mr. Bay, I'll convey your message"

The connection was broken off suddenly, leaving Serena Lewis gazing at her computer screen.

* * *

"Blue." Miriam's voice was tense over the comm. "I've got it."

"SIG." Adam agreed nervously. "And I've got something you'd better see."

He surveyed the room in which he stood.

He heard the female footsteps come up behind him.

"Now, I'm no expert, but this doesn't look like a child's room to me."

* * *

"Lieutenant Almond, I have a message for you." As she straightened up, Miriam managed not to curse Lieutenant Green.

"SIG, Lieutenant."  
"Your brother said that the lad has suckled from an asp, and that it wasn't a Porter, it was a…"  
"lucifie." Miriam finished for her, gazing at the figure standing over the unconscious form of Adam. As she met Simone Giraudoux-Lefkon, once known as Destiny Angel's eyes, she translated, "a fallen angel."

TBC


	10. Chapter 10 The End

Sorry this chapter is so short, it's the second to last one. I apologize for the lack of fight scenes as the end of this chapter will demonstrate, there not my strong point.

Chapter 10

"Aah."

"Easy. Easy." Almond's soft voice came to ears. "You're Safe."

Adam attempted to yank himself up into a sitting position, wincing as the pain from his head hit him again.

"What happened? Where's Destiny?"  
Miriam jerked her head over to where a bundle of cords and flesh lay. She was unconscious.

"How did you…?"  
In response she held up a small piece of metal.

"Sodium and magnesium. Never leave home without it."

"I'll bear that in mind." Muttered Adam, sitting up, rubbing his head. He then froze. "Black!"

"I've alerted Skybase." Miriam said, holding up her hand. "They're looking for him."

#

The engines roared below him. It all came full circle he supposed. This was where he'd first face them.

Now he wandered through here looking for the man who was once his best friend. Who he thought he'd rescued.

And the girl he loved was held in a prison cell.

The sickness invaded his stomach again.

"Conrad." He said firmly.

"Conrad is dead." There was no warmth or friendship in the voice.

"you fought them once before, you can do so again."  
"Conrad is dead." The Mysteron agent repeated. "And soon so will everyone else on this planet will be."

The exhaustion invaded him.

"You know I can't let you do that."  
The Mysteron thing nodded.

"To the death, then."  
He lunged forward, grabbing Scarlet around the waist and knocking them both to the floor. They rolled across the deck, till they reached the edge of the deck, where the engines roared and flashed.

Then the Mysteron got the upper hand, how he wasn't sure and he daggling over, the sparks nearly catching his hair.

Hands like iron bars were wrapped around his throat, choking him. His vision was turning black. Dimly, as though from a great distance he heard two shots fired, then he sank down, down, into blackness.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11 Epilogue

_Author's note. Well here we are. The last chapter. It's rather sad, I've really enjoyed writing this. I'm planning a prequel to this story, which I will hopefully post here and on the Spectrum Head Quarter's website after Halloween. Hope you guys have enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Keep an eye out for my next one. Nice reviews make me post faster._

Chapter 11

The first thing he was aware of was an unnatural beeping. Slowly he opened his eyes.

The bright light almost made him close them again, but he forced them to remain open. Two flesh coloured blurs hovered above him.

He blinked, and the blurs sharpen to reveal two people.

Captain Blue and Lieutenant Almond peered down at him.

"I'm getting," he managed to rasp. "A strange sense of déjà."

"So you remember?" Miriam's voice was full of relief and concern, mixed together so that they were nearly indistinguishable.

"Wish I could forget."

Adam extended his hand.

"Try not to talk."

"I'll get Marigold" Miriam said, swimming out of his vision.

He closed his eyes and willed the world to go away.

* * *

"Salve."

A tanned tattooed face with worried brown eyes peered down at him, dark hair hidden behind a head scarf.

"Ardeth?" he pulled himself up into a sitting position. "What are you doing here?"  
The Hiran shrugged.

"I was invited by Colonel White to explain the message I left with Lieutenant Green. Apparently your code department is concerned that it might mean we were planning to blow up Skybase."

He laughed slightly. Scarlet didn't.

Ardeth sighed.

"You realize she will not be charged?" he asked. "There is no evidence."

"The boy saw her. As did Blue and Almond."

Ardeth shrugged.

"The agents are apparently refusing to press charges. My sister is claiming that she accidentally ignited the sodium and magnesium while searching the bathroom, and all Adam's evidence proved was that their relationship was abusive and that Black has been under Mysteron control for some time."

"But your kid?"  
Ardeth got to his feet and wandered over to the sickbay windows.

"The boy suckled from an asp." Seeing the confusion in Scarlet's reflected face, he added. "He's dead."

"I'm sorry." Scarlet said, remembering the small tablet Miriam had shown him once. It was a suicide pill, apparently made from the venom of an asp. Quick, painful and no known antidote.

Ardeth shrugged.

"Sometimes," he said quietly. "They return." He turned to face him. "Once the boy was arrested by the police, he knew he could never go back. He could not adjust." He retook his seat, picking at a loose thread on his cuff. "If you have lived all your life in the darkness, then the light can be terrifying. Some can adjust to it, over come their fear and learn to live in the light. But many …" he shook his head. "They claim the darkness is terrifying. But sometimes it is the light we fear."

He looked at Scarlet.

"And even if he hadn't, I would have told him to forget the angel. No one would have believed him."

Scarlet glance up, gratefully at the former terrorist.

"Thanks."  
Ardeth shrugged.

"You were the first person to treat my sister equally. To see the person she could be, instead of the person she had been. For that," he smiled gently. "You have my eternal thanks."

He got to his feet.

"Well, I'd best go before the good colonel arrest me."

He glanced back at Scarlet.

"Hold on Scarlet. There is a war on. We need all the help we can get."

"What do you do when it feels too hard to get up?"

Ardeth shrugged.

"Then you remember who you're fighting for." He said, depositing a photo on the bed.

As the door closed behind him, Scarlet picked up the photo.

It was of him, Destiny and Conrad.

Nodding to himself, Paul Metcalf yanked himself to his feet. The war was still on, and he was Spectrum best man.

the end


End file.
